Description
This globular vessel has three long conical supports placed underneath the bowl, rather than to the sides, and thus they define a small base. In its recent history, the object underwent considerable reconstruction: the surviving portion of the walls had broken off from the base, and many pieces were unavailable. A conservator rebuilt the lower portion of the vessel’s body by applying a thick layer of epoxy resin. The container is heavily eroded as well, so that all of its superior part is missing. Erosion affected both the interior and exterior surfaces, thinning the walls and leading to the structural failure of the bowl. Although there is one section of the walls that is entirely missing, the inside surface is less uneven than the exterior.
The vessel’s material is probably travertine, judging by its white color and apparent hardness. The better condition of the interior suggests that the vessel lay inverted in the context that led to its erosion. Given travertine’s properties, including its sedimentary origin and hardness, water action might have been conducive to such deterioration. Because of its condition, there are no marks that may have been left by the manufacturing procedures. Although incomplete, the lower shape of the vessel is very similar to some ceramic forms that were much in vogue in the regions of northwestern Oaxaca and southern Puebla between 1300 and 1520 CE.
Bibliography
Benson, Elizabeth P. 1963 Handbook of the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C., p. 28, cat. 142.
Bliss, Robert Woods 1947 Indigenous Art of the Americas: Collection of Robert Woods Bliss. National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 21, 103, cat. 98.
Bliss, Robert Woods 1957 Pre-Columbian Art: The Robert Woods Bliss Collection. Text and Critical Analyses by S. K. Lothrop, Joy Mahler and William F. Foshag. Phaidon, New York. p. 246, cat. 77, pl. LIII.
Bliss, Robert Woods 1959 Pre-Columbian Art: The Robert Woods Bliss Collection. 2nd ed. Text and Critical Analyses by S. K. Lothrop, Joy Mahler and William F. Foshag. Phaidon, London. p. 254, cat. 77, pl. LIII.
Exhibition History
"Indigenous Art of the Americas", National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, April 1947 to July 1949; January 1956 to July 1962.
Outside/In: Martha Jackson Jarvis at Dumbarton Oaks, Dumbarton Oaks, Washinton DC, February 20 to Agust 19, 2018
Acquisition History
Purchased from Earl Stendahl, Los Angeles (dealer), by Robert Woods Bliss, June 1944.
Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art, Washington, DC, 1944-1962.
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Pre-Columbian Collection, Washington, DC.
